Then I read an update. In the years I’d been ignoring sous vide, the hardware had shrunk. Once a $500 bathtub, sous vide has been reformatted as a $200 (or less) stick. Prop it in a pot of water. Drop the ingredients in a zip-close bag and (using a clever underwater trick) squeeze out the air. Fits in a drawer, calls for DIY ingenuity: Count me in.
Susie and I made lamb chops that glowed medium rare, end to end. We calibrated the creaminess of creme brulee. We poached eggs right in the shell. Sous vide, I learned, offers old-school low-and-slow cooking, with precision.
Plus, it’s a time machine. Once the sealed-and-poached dish reaches temperature, it can usually hold — without overcooking — for hours. In other words, sous vide pinpoints the crux of dinner-party anxiety and cranks it down below zero. That’s my kind of future.
Modern Pasta Carbonara
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Makes: 2 servings
1 large egg
1/2 pound spaghetti or fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 slice (1/4-inch thick) pancetta, cubed, about 1 1/2 ounces
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Poach: Using a sous vide device, heat a pot of water to 147 degrees. Use a slotted spoon to lower in the egg (in its shell). Cook, 1 hour.
2. Boil: Cook pasta the old-fashioned way — in a big pot of salted water — until tender but firm. Drain.
3. Sizzle: While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Drop in garlic; toast golden brown. Scoop out garlic and discard. Add the pancetta to the hot pan, and sizzle until crisp, 2-3 minutes. Add wine; sizzle, 1 minute.
4. Toss: Heap cooked pasta in a serving bowl. Toss with pancetta mixture. Toss with both types of cheese and parsley.
5. Serve: At the last moment, crack the poached egg onto the pasta. Dramatic, right? Toss until egg has melded with pasta and sauce. Grind on some pepper. Dig in.
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